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Jun. 13th, 2011

Jun. 13th, 2011

- Sometimes I wish my street was a bit more off the beaten path. I'm used to various emergency vehicles blaring their way past my window late at night, but being awoken by them at the asscrack of dawn is its own special brand of suck. At least my windows were shut, so it wasn't as heart-attack-inducing as it could have been, but still, not the way I would have chosen to start my morning.

- Anyone else having an It's A National Holiday And Nobody Told Me sort of day? I was the only person at the bus stop (which doesn't happen often and always makes me paranoid that I missed the bus), and one of the only people on the bus when it did show up (seriously, it was just me and some dude sleeping/passed out in the back). Seems like half the staff is out, too. Then again, most of them have kids and it's start of summer vacation for them, so maybe people are just cashing in their vacation days now. Today has been slower than molasses in January, anyway, so it's not like we're feeling the crunch.

- Covering the front desk all day because our usual back-up isn't in. The upside: I have a bit of a view. Not much of one, but at least I can see some of the skyline. I've noticed a lot of helicopters going back and forth, but the Strib doesn't have any Exciting Breaking News posted, so I'm not sure what's brought them out.

- I made a quick Target run today to get Tylenol--got a pretty bad headache on Saturday night (bad for me, anyway), and the closest thing to Tylenol that we even had in the apartment was some cold-specific stuff. It worked, but I figured it was dumb to not have a Big Bottle O' Pain Relief on hand. I couldn't have timed it better; a few people have wandered by the desk complaining of headaches. I feel like a magician whipping out my Big Bottle O' Pain Relief.

- Downside to covering the front desk: I can't listen to music. As a result, I've had that "Man Up" song from "The Book of Mormon" stuck in my head all day.

- I decided to get some exercise yesterday by walking downtown and back to buy "Tangled" from the B&N. It's a round trip of about four miles (with a nice two-or-three-story staircase thrown in there), so I felt like I got a bit of a workout. Now I'm kinda sore, though, and debating whether or not to walk home. HMMM.

Okay, seriously, what in the fresh hell is going on? Flisters, are you okay?? Sound off in the comments or something; I'm freaking out over here.

I hadn't been intending to walk home, but as soon as I stepped outside I got that feeling you get when you've just turned off the basement lights and are about to head back upstairs--you just really want to break into a sprint even though you feel kind of stupid about it, you know? It should have been rush hour; there should have been cars and pedestrians, and instead the place is practically deserted. I saw a few people, but they were shambling along like they were strung out on something. I didn't really feel threatened; I was pretty sure I could outrun them (or at least incapacitate them, thanks to my self-defense course), but the idea of standing around on a corner, waiting for the bus, just... did not appeal. So I started walking, just to be moving.

In retrospect, I probably should have just gone back upstairs. I definitely should have just gone back upstairs. The elevators lock if you don't have a keycard. Shit.

After about five minutes of that, I decided that walking was not fast enough. There seemed to be more people about as I left downtown, which was kind of counterintuitive. A few of them noticed me, though none of them were following me fast enough for me to really feel like I was being pursued or anything. Still, it was tweaking me out.

And then I saw one of those rent-a-bike things--the city has stands of them installed every few miles, and you can pay five bucks to rent one for an hour or whatever--but this one was just on its own, lying in the grass next to the sidewalk, and I was freaked out enough by that point to just think, what the hell, it's not really stealing because it's not like whoever left it there owns it. It still felt like stealing. I took it anyway.

I got off the main road as soon as I could. I saw some groups of people on Nicollet Island--students, mostly, from the look of it--all huddled together, and some girl was screaming something about the bridges. I didn't catch it all, and the bridges seemed fine to me, so I kind of ignored it and just kept pedaling home.

I had made it to my street, but there were even more people around--mostly students, because it's that kind of neighborhood. Some of them were in cars--windows all rolled up, even though it's a beautiful day-- and some were just kind of wandering around aimlessly. And some guy tried to, like... grab me or knock me off the bike. I don't know why, I don't know if it was me or the bike that he wanted, but I swerved and managed to get past him. But WTF, WHO DOES THAT, SERIOUSLY.

I came up the back way; there was no one behind the building, so it felt safer. And of course NOW I turn on the news and see all this shit about staying indoors. Jesus.

Well, we're on the second floor, so I don't think I have to worry about the windows (yet). And maybe I can figure out how to trigger the old fire doors at the end of the hall; that would at least block off access from the back stairway. I don't know; I kind of want to knock on my neighbors' doors to see what they're thinking, but I kind of really don't at the same time.

No idea where the roommate is. Cell service doesn't seem to be working. Shit, shit, shit.

I don't really have the means to barricade the windows, but I've locked them and drawn the blinds. I'm keeping the lights off, too--hell, I even moved the laptop to the closet so the glow wouldn't be noticeable.

I also gave in and barricaded the door. I feel pretty awful about it, but wtf else was I supposed to do? I could hear banging and scraping coming from some of the other units, and I didn't want any noise-making that I did down here to stand out, so I seized the opportunity. If I hear my roommate in the hallway, I can let him in. I don't know. I don't think he's coming.

The streets have gone really quiet. I think everyone who planned on leaving town has already succeeded... or definitively failed, one way or the other. I can hear sirens, sometimes, and helicopters. It all sounds pretty distant, though. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Does it mean things are pretty stable here? I'm too scared to go near the windows and check.